By WJBC Staff

DUBUQUE – The Bloomington Thunder have been in this situation before. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, the Thunder fell to the Dubuque Fighting Saints 7-1 to fall down in the series 1-0. Dubuque came out after a one-goal deficit in the second with a different intensity and were able to take hold of the game. The Thunder fell in game 1 of the Semifinal round against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, but battled back in the series and eventually winning it in five games. Game 2 will take place on Tuesday night, again from Mystique Ice Center.

Steven Merl (University of Michigan) turned in the first goal of the game less than three minutes into the night. Logan Lambdin (Michigan State University) tried a shot off the pad of Hunter Miska (University of Minnesota-Duluth). The rebound came to the corner for Merl who shot it from the goal line to give Bloomington an early lead over the Fighting Saints.

Miska made a huge save on a Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) who had a chance in the final minute of the period to put the Thunder up by two. The Thunder captain caught a pass from Blake Gober (Penn State University) on a 2-on-1, but was denied on the chance. It was one of Miska’s 18 saves in the win.

After an exceptional first period, the Fighting Saints turned a 180 on the game in the second. It was good stick positioning that put Dubuque ahead of the Thunder with three shots deflected as part of a four-goal period. The charge was opened by a tip in front of the net by Dallas Gerads (Minnesota State University-Mankato) for his second of the playoffs. Less than two minutes later, the Saints caught a break on a puck that ricochet into the net off a defender for Keegan Ford’s (Michigan Tech University) second goal of the post season.

Michael O’Leary (University of Notre Dame) battled his way to the front to extend the lead on a redirected pass. He then earned a helped on a Petter Makitalo goal, which switched goaltender’s Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) and Logan Halladay (Merrimack College) in the game. Lavigne posted a strong first period with 11 saves and added another six during the second period. Dubuque’s misdirection on pucks ultimately gave them the pressure to hold on in the second period. Halladay finished the night with 14 saves in relief.

Penalties in the game were held at just one per side in the first two periods but the tension rolled over into the third and the boxes were used more frequently. Penalty time in the game finished at 50 minutes combined in the game and the Fighting Saints went 2-of-4 on the power play.

The battle ramped up as the Fighting Saints scored one power play goal to open the third. Eventually the game boiled to a head at the halfway point of the period as Slaker and Gerads dropped the gloves. In the final minutes of the period, both Willy Knierim (Miami University) and O’Leary scored to finish the night. Ford finished with a game high four points (2g, 2a).